Keg tapping seal



I April 2,1935.

E. WERTHNER KEG TAPPING SEAL Filed Dec. 8, 1953 B Z a Momma.

Patented Apr. 2,1935 d it: :r,

Edward 'W'erthner, New-York, N. Y., 'assignor to a -William Werthner, New YorkgN. Y .1 r AppIicationDecenIber S, 1933,1Serial No. 701,521

' lClaimsc'KClQ225+44l- The usual beerkeg isvcomm onlyprovided a cuppedwooden bung and the dispensing means for discharging the beerias needed includes a' tapered .tap to be driven into the. cupped bung '5 to break out-the bung bottom and their wedge fluid-tightly into the. bung side wall, "said tap carrying theusual faucet tube or red; .Itbft'en happens, however, thatthe side wall of the bung instead ofremaining intactin the bunglhole,

breaks and will notjfiuid-tightly seal around the tap, or that the bung is driven completely into the keg. When' suchoccurrences-happen, not only does the keg-tapping person jbeconieshdW- ere'dwith leaking beer isquirting under pressure from thekeg, but the gas from the beer isldst and the beer'soon spoils. It is the objectof my invention, however, toovercome" such difiiculties'g With the foregoing in-view, the invention re 1 sides in the novel subject matter hereinafter-de- 2.- scribed andclaimed, description being accomplished by reference to the accompanyingdrawi Fig. l is a-perspective view showing c ne form of the seal; the tapfto-bedriven through said 25..- seal, and a portion of an unopened beer. keg to be tapped; I

Fig. 2 is a verticalsectional view showing the manner, of positioning the sealbefore inwardly driving the tap to-break' out the bung bottom.

I Fig. 3 is a. view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the relation of parts when the tap has been drivencompletely into place, if part cf the bung side wall has been driven inwardly, broken and entered the keg with the bung bottom.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing the manner in which the seal operates when only the bung bottom is broken out by driving of the tap.

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view showing a modification.

been shown and will be specifically described, with the understanding however, that the invention could well be practiced with seals of other formations. The seal cooperates with certain old parts,

briefly described below. 1

One head 5 of the usual beer keg 6 is provided with a bung hole I formed in a metal bushing 8. Into this bung, hole, the conventional cupped wooden bung is tightly driven at the brewery. The side wall of this bung is denoted at 10 and its bottomat II, for further reference.

The usual tapered tap l2 which has a packed sliding connection with the faucet tube or rod I3, is intended to be driven into the cupped bung Two seals of advantageous construction have to. first break out the bung bottom, l;l and to then wedge fluid-tightly into the sidewall Ill. I15 a portioniof this side wall, however, breaks off and: enters-the keg, or if, the entire bung should be driven. from the bung hole, it is;ordinarily; impos- '5 sible to tightly seal the tap l2 in place, making leakage; loss of beerand beer spoiling'inevitable,

but'no such occurrencescantake place when the present inventionis practiced; during keg tap-f ping. The bung isicu'stomarily flush with the outer end of thebushing s, .andgIprovide for a fluid-tight seal betweenthe tap I 2 and the" outer:

ends of said bushing and bung, and moreover,.a

fiuidstight seal is establishedeven' if. the side wall It) ofthebungshould badly break as illustrated in Fig; 3,01 should be drivenentirely into the The inventionispractioed with the aidof a seal such-as H or m-wmcn is tea-large extent elastic. seen in Fig. 2 with one of its elasticportions l5. disposediagainst the outer end of the bung side wall In and with another elastic portion 16 oi? said seal ring disposed in outwardly spaced rela-' tion' with f. the; part: of v the keg around the. bung hole. ;iThe tap 12 :is: then insertedjthrough the sea-l ring; positioned against-the bung bottom ll, andainwardly: driven. tor-break said bottom ,ofi. If the. .side; walltalflrbreaks. andithe bung drives partly into the keg as seen in Fig. 3, the elastic portion 15 enters the bung hole I, and as the tap I2 is further driven, it wedges tightly into said elastic portion |5and expands the same tightly againstthe side wall of said bung hole I, and the inward driving of the tap l2 also draws the elastic portion [6 tightly against the part of the keg surrounding the bung hole. The same will take place if the entire bung drives into the keg. If the bung side wall In does not break, the inward driving of the tap l2, merely compresses and distorts the elastic portion l5v against said wall I0 and the bushing '8, and also draws portion l6 against said bushing and the surrounding part of the head 5 as seenin Fig. 4. A fluid-tight seal will thus be effected around the tap l2, even 45 under conditions whichwould ordinarily cause severe leakage with its accompanying inconveniences and losses.

Should it be desired, the invention may, of course, be practiced without forcing an elastic portion such as I6 against the part of the keg around the bung hole but when such a portion is used in addition to a portion such as IS, a seal is provided which is less apt to becomeimpaired This" seal ring isapplied to the keg as '20 already used, will suflice.

if any lateral stresses be placed upon the faucet tube or rod I3.

, As to structure, the sealing ring l4 and [4 preferably comprises a metal ring and two rubber rings. The metal ring in Figs. 1 to 4, comprises a top wall I! having two spaced concentric integral flanges I8 and i9, and an integral flange projecting inwardly beyond the flange I9. This flange!!! is-preferably of greater height than the flange 18, land it snugly embraces one iota the rubber rings for which reference number 15, The upper end of this rubber ring l5 abuts the flange 20 and projects radially inward beyond this flange, and the flange IB is preferably roughened,- for instance, with fine screw threads 2|, to engage saidring and prevent it from being accidentally removed.

The second rubber ring; "for whichfihe'reference number l6, already used, will sufiice, isheld between the flanges l8 and I9, flange l8 being prererably crlmped inward to some extentfto hold said ring against removal. Ring islpreferably of greater .radialwidththan ring it but is i be-received'lna shallow channel in .the angle betweenztheiflangessi S andltmnd this will assist alsolin holding'rlng i5 properly engaged with the metal'ringz- IDhe lower deformed portion of this ring 45, flows into;ithetspace under flange" 19. s-Inli'ig. 5,rthe;..top' wall :"I 1' of the 'metalring is provided only anthem/flanges II and? but this structure is nevertheless an effective seal, 7

v Excellent results have been attained fromthe invention as herein disclosed, .nn'd the present disclosurelmay therefore {be considered as preferr'ed; Howeven-withln the scope of the -invention as claimed, variations may of :;course ,be

made. u l m a, lclaimze- 1 ov l. A'keg tap seal comprising. an inherently rigid ring, and'annular elastic sealing means noaidal with; bymnd projecting from one side or said. rigid ring, said sealing means having one annular portion: for compression against a bung or for reception in the outer end of a bung hole, and a second annular portion to lie against the portion of the keg around said bung hole, said one annular portion being throughout of less internal diameter than said rigid ring to fluid-tightly contact with the usual tapered tap when the latter is driven through the seal to break out the bottom of the usual bung.

2 In a keg tap seal, an inherently rigid ring having an annular top wall, and an annular flange projecting downwardly from said top wall be- .tween its inner and outer peripheral edges, and

inner and outer elastic seal rings engaging the inner andouter sides of said flange respectively and; abutting said top wall, said inner seal ring projectingldownwardly beyond said outer seal r n 1 3. In a keg tap seal, an inherently rigid ring having an annular top wall, and two spaced concentric flanges projecting downwardly from said top wall, said top wall having an annular flange portion projecting inwardly beyond the innermost of said concentric flanges; an :inner elastic seal ring embraced by and projecting downwardly from said innermost of saidconcentric flanges,

the upper edge of'said inner seal ring abutting said flange portion of said top wall, and an outer elastic. seal ring held between and projecting downwardly from said concentric flanges, said inner seal ring projecting downwardly below said outer seal 4. In a kegtap seal, annular elastic sealing means having anouter annular elastic portion for compression against a keg around a cupped bung thereof,vsaid sealing means also having a projectinginner tapengaging elastic annular portion for compression against the outer end of the EDWARD WERTHNERQ 

